I have been looking and notice that a 90s Lotus Esprit can be had for roughly the same price as an NSX...as they are roughly the same concept I was wondering what anyone thought on comparative performance, driving feel, etc...one thing about the NSX that I am concerned about is that it just seems so...civilized! Of course, I expect the people here to be a little biased :wink:
Lotus Esprit vs. NSX?
- Thread starter falcon
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Depends do you want to drive your car or fix it?:biggrin:
I like the Lotus Esprit a lot but what I worry is the reliability of the car. It gona to cost you a lot in term of keeping the car runs in trouble -free mode. :smile:
You will be better of with the nsx.
Stay away from the 90s Lotus products - they look cool...but the cost of repairing them - over and over and over again, will drive you nuts and empty your pocket book
Buy an NSX...
Dam
Buy an NSX...
Dam
My Lotus experience was a trouble free year and 20k miles in a 135bhp Elise. A good friend of mine however, had an Esprit V8 which looked superb but cost him £12k in as many months. The NSX by contrast has cost me £800 in routine maintenance including the timing belts.
The numbers speak for themselves. And talking of numbers, 290bhp is far from civilised unless you want it to be. The useable, everyday Supercar.
HTH
The numbers speak for themselves. And talking of numbers, 290bhp is far from civilised unless you want it to be. The useable, everyday Supercar.
HTH
If you rarely drive the lotus, its OK. But if you plan to drive it moderately, then you will feel the unreliability hit you. Persdonally I feel the Esprit is claustrophobic in the cabin, total opposite of an NSX. I also don't like the shifter much, and the power surges whereas the NSX is smooth.
If the NSX is to civilized for you just mod it a little. Its easy to make it less civilized.
I think the Esprit will also continue to depreciate more than an NSX and an NSX can be serviced at any Acura dealer... how many lotus dealers do you have around?
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I hate getting in and out of the Lotus, and I am not a big guy at all.
Fun to drive, sure. If I had both, I would find myself reaching for the NSX keys more often than the Lotus keys.
In fact, I whine when I am asked to move the Lotus around here at work. :tongue:
We fight over moving the NSX's! :biggrin:
Fun to drive, sure. If I had both, I would find myself reaching for the NSX keys more often than the Lotus keys.
In fact, I whine when I am asked to move the Lotus around here at work. :tongue:
We fight over moving the NSX's! :biggrin:
Thanks for sharing BenDF...above says it all. Are there other exotic cars are there at work?
the trannys in the esprits are notoriously weak and are out of production. now if you were the bench racing/tinkering kind like i am you might start thinking porsche tranny swap but then before you know it you've mentally tossed the entire drivetrain and re-wired the whole car! probably better off modding the nsx 
if you want something really wild you should look into the consulier gtp. butt ugly, but they weigh around 2100 lbs and use a very inexpensive and durable chrysler turbo drivetrain
if you want something really wild you should look into the consulier gtp. butt ugly, but they weigh around 2100 lbs and use a very inexpensive and durable chrysler turbo drivetrain
When I started saving $ for a car I didn't know if I wanted a Lotus or an NSX. I was leaning towards the Lotus but NSX Prime converted me. Now, I can't believe I ever wanted a Lotus. (Thanks Prime!!)
The build quality of the Lotus is not even in the same league as that of the NSX. There are several very good threads on prime that tackle this subject. Yes, they are bias. They are also correct. Most of the criticisms you will find on here about the car are frequent topics on Lotus boards.
Also, I suggest you (try to) drive one. I am just over 6' and I could barely fit and definitely could not drive it for anything longer than 30 min. The cabin is terrible. A friend of mine in college had a `94. I never was able to drive that one but even he admitted that it was uncomfortable after a time. This was a bad thing as his driving time was also limited by how much it was in the shop. The car was only six years old at the time and had less than 20k on it. Even if you have a lot of money, as this guy did, I think it would be annoying to constantly be taking your baby in.
I suppose this is a lot of time to spend on this subject and the Lotus is a car that I can understand someone buying. It, like the NSX, is truly a car of passion and its owners are great car enthusiasts. However, make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.
The build quality of the Lotus is not even in the same league as that of the NSX. There are several very good threads on prime that tackle this subject. Yes, they are bias. They are also correct. Most of the criticisms you will find on here about the car are frequent topics on Lotus boards.
Also, I suggest you (try to) drive one. I am just over 6' and I could barely fit and definitely could not drive it for anything longer than 30 min. The cabin is terrible. A friend of mine in college had a `94. I never was able to drive that one but even he admitted that it was uncomfortable after a time. This was a bad thing as his driving time was also limited by how much it was in the shop. The car was only six years old at the time and had less than 20k on it. Even if you have a lot of money, as this guy did, I think it would be annoying to constantly be taking your baby in.
I suppose this is a lot of time to spend on this subject and the Lotus is a car that I can understand someone buying. It, like the NSX, is truly a car of passion and its owners are great car enthusiasts. However, make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.
An acquaintance of mine bought an esprit twin turbo V8 after grad school about 6-7 years ago. It was his dream car and for what you get on paper, the up front cost, and looks, it is/was a great deal. Unfortunately, he went through two engines in two years due to (1) dropped valve causing catastrophic engine failure and (2) electrical errors resulting in catastrophic engine failure.
Within 2.5 years he had paid in maint. the value of the car at the time, which was his limit and he soon sold it, with many new parts none-the-less. He said his situation was worse than average, but not intensely so. He has an older 911 now and couldn't be happier. He says it's extremely reliable, but now it's hard to discern what that really means to him.
Within 2.5 years he had paid in maint. the value of the car at the time, which was his limit and he soon sold it, with many new parts none-the-less. He said his situation was worse than average, but not intensely so. He has an older 911 now and couldn't be happier. He says it's extremely reliable, but now it's hard to discern what that really means to him.
I don't think we need to be bringing the driver's sexuality into the discussion.
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I don't think we need to be bringing the driver's sexuality into the discussion.
LOL. had a feeling that was coming.
I'm a big fan of honda/acura. I thought i'd og a different route with an espirit as well. After some extensive research i decided the nsx was the better way to go. The dependability and practically maint. free nsx, is a reason to smile every day you drive your nsx.
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The older Lotus' had several problems. Repair costs are rather expensive. Turbos are prone to failure. The newer Esprit V8 98+ however has great improvements and reliability. The Renault 5 speed tranny still makes shifting very sloppy and rubbery. My brother had a 99 Lotus 350 Sport which he put several
1000's of miles on it problem free. The handling on that car was unmatched with any other i have ever driven. Performance wise it was very responsive and peppy. The performance and suspension IMO surpassed the NSX NA1 & NA2 (never driven an NSX-R to compare). Well then again the 350 Sport was tweaked for the track with a set of superb AP Racing brakes. The only drawback was the tranny . We then swapped in a synchroed 6 speed from the Lotus trace team in UK which improved the car all around mated with a Quaiffe differential. When we upgraded to the race ECU upping teh boost maps the car became a monster. Heat soak however was also an issue since it lacked intercoolers. I found the stealth design to be very appealing although the cabin was not intended for big/tall people. Disadvantage to many nice advantage for me :smile: The latest race i had was with a friend's GT2 in which i had no trouble passing on the freeway running 1 bar boost. The resale value is horrible for Lotus. In the end i would rather drive an underpowered (in comparison) NSX anyday. :smile: The Lotus is either a love or hate kind of car.
1000's of miles on it problem free. The handling on that car was unmatched with any other i have ever driven. Performance wise it was very responsive and peppy. The performance and suspension IMO surpassed the NSX NA1 & NA2 (never driven an NSX-R to compare). Well then again the 350 Sport was tweaked for the track with a set of superb AP Racing brakes. The only drawback was the tranny . We then swapped in a synchroed 6 speed from the Lotus trace team in UK which improved the car all around mated with a Quaiffe differential. When we upgraded to the race ECU upping teh boost maps the car became a monster. Heat soak however was also an issue since it lacked intercoolers. I found the stealth design to be very appealing although the cabin was not intended for big/tall people. Disadvantage to many nice advantage for me :smile: The latest race i had was with a friend's GT2 in which i had no trouble passing on the freeway running 1 bar boost. The resale value is horrible for Lotus. In the end i would rather drive an underpowered (in comparison) NSX anyday. :smile: The Lotus is either a love or hate kind of car.
Ski_Banker
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What's a good Lotus forum? I've been working for 30 hours straight and could use some entertainment. :tongue:
Depends on your style. I spent about 8 months with a '94 Esprit S4 as my daily driver several years ago and can assure you that it is a very fun car, but is very different than the NSX. The Esprit S4 was a single turbo vehicle where the power was either on, or off....nothing in between. Seriously. If you floored it and the boost was not kicking in yet, the lag and lack of power was nerve racking. But once the boost kicked in....BLAM!! You were off like a rocket!! It seriously felt like you got rear-ended by someone because the boost would just come out of nowhere. The car also has a very unique look. I really liked it. The funny thing was people would always ask me what it was, and I would say it was a Lotus. They would often pause, get a confused look on their face, and say,'Who makes Lotus,' and then be quiet. I would simply say, 'Have you ever seen the movie 'Pretty Woman'? That is the same car,' and people would suddenly be like, "OH!! Corners like it's on rails....YEAH,' and they knew what it was. Without that movie, Lotus Esprit owners would have a tough time explaining what their car is.
:redface: :tongue: :wink: By contrast the NSX is much more refined, and less of a kit car. The Lotus always struck me as a kit car because it had the steering wheel from the GM parts bin (it was the EXACT same one in some GM cars of the time, it just said LOTUS on it), the taillights were from Toyota (they said it on the lens), and several other parts and the very vague shifter just made it seem like a combination of a lot of different cars. The big advantage was that the Lotus really packed some punch when the turbo kicked in, and had killer exotic car looks. Overall I still love my NSXs, but the Lotus is a very fun car for the right person. The car did have the slave cylinder go out on us at about 12,000 miles in Ohio and leave us stranded until the $850 part arrived though....that was not fun.
I had the Esprit and I enjoyed it, but then sold it and later got my NSX. Reasons: very high ownership cost and inadequate support. Toward the end of the ownership, the Esprit was parked in the garage most of the time because I was tired of fixing stuff.
I have an Elise now and I am happy with it (Lotus handling and Toyota reliability).
I have an Elise now and I am happy with it (Lotus handling and Toyota reliability).
Ski_Banker
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I would simply say, 'Have you ever seen the movie 'Pretty Woman'? That is the same car,' and people would suddenly be like, "OH!! Corners like it's on rails....YEAH,' and they knew what it was. Without that movie, Lotus Esprit owners would have a tough time explaining what their car is.
ROFL. Without that movie, private equity guys would have a hard time getting laid!
LOL, too funny!!! :biggrin:
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There was an article by Car and Drive in 1996; tested F355, NSX, Viper, Covette, Esprit. Esprit finished last.
The Engine was good, but they mentioned the transmisson during that era wasn't well designed. In fact, they mentioned at the end of the test, the transmission needed rebuilt.
The Engine was good, but they mentioned the transmisson during that era wasn't well designed. In fact, they mentioned at the end of the test, the transmission needed rebuilt.
Excerpt from the link
"Suffice it say that many Esprit owners used to own NSXs."
In their dream.
"Suffice it say that many Esprit owners used to own NSXs."
In their dream.
Ski_Banker
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Oh jeez. Mister "I'm gonna show off my hot semi-naked wife on Prime" is the one that gets it......:tongue: :wink: :biggrin:
